


if you don't like shaking pom-poms, you'd better learn to act

by juliatrojanspromfan97



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: Pre-Canon, how alyssa really feels about cheerleading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 18:42:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18349499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliatrojanspromfan97/pseuds/juliatrojanspromfan97
Summary: While waiting for cheerleading tryouts to start, freshman Alyssa Greene reflects on her history with the sport.





	if you don't like shaking pom-poms, you'd better learn to act

**Author's Note:**

> So I actually posted this on tumblr a while ago for Unruly Hearts Week, back when I didn't have an Ao3 account. So now that I do I thought I'd post it here for categorical purposes.
> 
> It's a one-shot expanding on Alyssa as a cheerleader. Hope you like it!

Alyssa Greene is over cheerleading.

She made it all the way through middle school, but it’s not for her. Doing splits and lifts doesn’t have the same appeal as it did when she was kid, watching the older girls. If she had her choice, Alyssa would begin her high school career by hanging up her pom-poms.

And yet. Here she is in the James Madison High School gym, stretching her calves in preparation for cheer tryouts.

“I’m so nervous I’m gonna barf!” Next to Alyssa, Kaylee’s face is turning whiter every second.

“Hey, Kaylee, look at me.” Alyssa’s taken on the duty of being the calming presence for her fellow freshmen today, since she herself is indifferent to whether or not she gets in. “Breathe. Tighten your pony. You’ll be fine.”

Kaylee’s big eyes only seem to get bigger as she struggles to breathe normally. Alyssa is almost envious of her, having something she cares enough about to make her this nervous. Alyssa hasn’t felt that strongly about anything in a long time.

She decided she wanted to be a cheerleader when she was nine years old. She was at a high school basketball game with her mom. Sitting on the bleachers in the large gym, Alyssa wasn’t paying attention to the boys basketball team running up and down the court. Instead, her eyes were glued to cheerleaders across the room.

She couldn’t stop staring at them. The blonde with the perfectly sleek ponytail. The redhead with the glint in her eye. The way their skirts brushed against their muscular legs. Little Alyssa was mesmerized. She didn’t know what to do.

She had to become one of them.

Once she started middle school and there was a cheerleading squad to try out for, getting in wasn’t so hard. After all, Alyssa was used to hard work and the competition wasn’t stiff at that age. And it was fun, for a while. She liked spending time with her friends after school, and it made her mom happy to see her succeed. But the sport got tedious. Alyssa grew weary of doing the same moves over and over again in varying orders. Standing perfectly still in formation during games was uncomfortable. And she hated wearing her uniform around school on game days. It made her feel like a prize hen being shown off at the county fair. Everyone was staring at her. In admiration or judgement? She didn’t know and she hated not knowing.

Here in the gym waiting for tryouts to start, Alyssa considers intentionally blowing the routine so she doesn’t get in. Then she pictures the look on her mother’s face when she tells her she didn’t make it, and pushes the idea away. Her mother loves telling people she passes in the grocery store about her daughter, the cheerleading honors student. In fact, Alyssa had already tried bringing up the possibility of not trying for the high school squad, and it hadn’t gone well.

“Hey Mom, what if I didn’t do cheer in high school?”

“Now, dear, why would you be thinking that?”

“I just… might want to think about… pursuing other opportunities.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Alyssa. I’ve already found an SAT prep class with a schedule that doesn’t conflict with the high school’s cheerleading practice.”

“Mom, that’s not what I meant.”

“Are you afraid you won’t get in, dear? You can’t let fear stop you. And besides, you’re one of the best girls on the middle school squad. I can’t imagine with your talent and tenacity you won’t make it.”

“But Mom-”

“No buts. Everything will be fine. Now go practice your splits. You don’t want to have lost your flexibility by the time school starts.”

So Alyssa gave up arguing. Now as the coach calls the freshmen forward to learn the routine, she follows Kaylee to front row, not quite dragging her feet. The routine isn’t difficult, but the afternoon seems to last forever as Alyssa goes through the motions, hoping her friends make the team but not really caring if she herself does.

The next day at school, the list is posted. Alyssa isn’t sure why her heart is pounding as she approaches the crowd surrounding the bulletin board. Kaylee and Shelby are hugging; what does that mean? Oh, they’re smiling and laughing. Good. So they made it.

It’s a few seconds before the crowd of girls, some smiling, relieved, others fighting back tears as they speed-walk to the bathroom, dissipates enough for Alyssa to read the list.

And there it is, near to top of the page. Alyssa Greene.

That afternoon, Alyssa shares the news with her mother.

“Mom, I made it. I made the cheerleading squad.”

“Oh, Alyssa, I knew you would!” her mother hugs her with a grip as tight as a vise. “I am so proud of you. We should celebrate! Go change into something nice. I’ll take you out to Applebee’s tonight!”

“Sure, Mom,” Alyssa says. There is so much else she wants to say, but she doesn’t.

So maybe she’d rather not be a cheerleader. But it makes her mom happy.

So she’ll suck it up and put a smile on her face.

Because she’s Alyssa Greene.

And that’s what Alyssa Greene does.


End file.
